Africa: Agriculture and Food

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote food security and agriculture in Africa in co-operation with (1) the European Union, and (2) the United States; and when this was last addressed in the context of the G8.

Baroness Northover: The United Kingdom, European Union and United States are all signatories to the L'Aquila Food security initiative (AFSI) launched at the G8 summit in 2009, which placed food security at the cornerstone of the G8's development concern. All signatories to AFSI recognise the need for decisive action to address hunger and poverty and have committed significant resources to promote food security, nutrition and agriculture in Africa and other developing countries. G8 members affirmed their commitment to meeting the AFSI pledges and reported their progress on implementing AFSI commitments in the latest annual G8 accountability report (Deauville Accountability Report: G8 Commitments on Health and Food Security: State of Delivery and Results).
	The United Kingdom, European Union and United States also co-operate to promote food security and agriculture through the G20. In June 2011, G20 agricultural Ministers agreed an action plan on food price volatility and agriculture with the objective of improving food security. Under the action plan, G20 members are committed to five main objectives, including improving agricultural production and productivity and increasing market information and transparency. The Department for International Development is also working with the European Commission in west Africa to promote food security in the Sahel region.

Agriculture: Eggs

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 14 December (WA 263), what are the main legal and financial obstacles to introducing a ban on imports of eggs which have been produced in illegal battery cages in non-compliant European Union member states; and why preventing the marketing of such imported eggs as Class A in the United Kingdom poses a lesser difficulty.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The treaty on the functioning of the EU prohibits quantitative restrictions on imports between member states and all measures that have a similar effect, with limited exceptions to that general rule, including where they are necessary on animal health or human health grounds. It is extremely unlikely that a court would extend those exceptions to animal welfare grounds in these circumstances.
	The treaty states that any restriction of trade must not constitute arbitrary discrimination. Given the traceability issues around distinguishing between imported eggs that have been reared in conventional cages in other member states and those that have not, any ban would have to be on imports of all eggs from a particular country, whether reared in conventional cages or not. That would clearly penalise compliant producers in other member states, which runs contrary to the principle of the free movement of goods.
	The EU Commission has ruled out the option of an intra-Community trade ban, and has given strong warnings to member states seeking to introduce a unilateral ban. Therefore, we would run the high risk of the Commission taking out infraction proceedings against the UK if we took unilateral action.
	Class A eggs are required under the egg marketing rules to be identified with the producer code which includes the farming method i.e. code 3 for caged. From 1 January, a code 3 mark will indicate that eggs have been produced by hens in enriched cages. If we suspect that a batch of imported Class A eggs have been produced by hens in conventional cages, these eggs, that are marked with an incorrect producer code will breach the marketing rules. We will use UV light analysis on imported class A eggs and if the marking on the eggs gives rise to suspicion, we will contact the competent authority in the member state of origin.
	However, the import of processed egg, principally in liquid or powdered form, is less easy to trace as the supply chain is less transparent and more challenging to audit. Because of a loophole in the egg marketing regulations, we cannot prohibit the marketing of any eggs produced in conventional cages from 1 January 2012 which are sent to processing (whether sent as ungraded or Class B), nor can we prohibit the use of any products made from such eggs.

Agriculture: Research

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to promote links between agricultural research institutions in the United Kingdom and those in other Commonwealth countries.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK is committed to upgrading its relationship with the Commonwealth and strengthening the organisation as a focus for democracy, development and prosperity. Working with Commonwealth member states on a wide range of issues, including agricultural research, is important to achieving this.
	Through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and its partnerships with the Department for International Development (DfID), the Department for Business, Enterprise and Skills (BIS) promotes considerable links between agricultural research institutes in the UK with those in Commonwealth countries and with a range of developing nations outside the Commonwealth. BBSRC and DfiD have jointly funded the Sustainable Agriculture Research for International Development, Combating Infectious Diseases of Livestock for International Development and Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development programmes.
	BBSRC's international relations unit schemes promote international collaboration between UK scientists and researchers overseas, while its strategically funded research institutes have important relationships with Commonwealth countries and extensive collaborative links with laboratories worldwide.
	The UK Collaborative on Development Science brings together UK research funders including DfID, Defra, FCO, Scottish Government, and research councils with interests relevant to international development to facilitate effective collaboration by providing a more co-ordinated approach to development sciences research.
	The Food Research Partnership chaired by the Government chief scientist is examining the UK's international food research engagement, identifying key issues, priorities and opportunities to strengthen the UK's current approach and impact on international research collaboration.
	International initiatives including Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (which includes UK, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Malaysia) are bringing countries together under common objectives to produce more food without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Crime: Recovered Assets

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers they have to recover assets stolen by convicted persons no longer resident in the United Kingdom, such as Michael Brown, in the light of his arrest in the Dominican Republic.

Lord Henley: The Government explore all avenues to return persons to the UK to face prosecution, including extradition where appropriate. There are a number of provisions within the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover criminally acquired assets in both the criminal and civil context. Civil recovery is a process that permits prosecution against property rather than an individual and so does not require a criminal conviction or the presence of the suspect.

Drugs: Decriminalisation

The Earl of Dundee: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations of the recent report of the global commission on drugs policy for the decriminalisation of drugs for personal and non-commercial use on an experimental basis.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation of the global commission on drugs policy for an open debate on the regulation of certain substances including cannabis.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the experience of Portugal and other European states of the decriminalisation of drugs for personal and non-commercial use.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to decriminalise drugs for personal and non-commercial use.

Lord Henley: We have no intention of liberalising our drugs laws. Drugs are illegal because they are harmful-they destroy lives and cause untold misery to families and communities. Those caught in the cycle of dependency must be supported to live drug-free lives, but giving people a green light to possess drugs through decriminalisation is clearly not the answer.
	Through the cross-government drug strategy, we are taking action through tough enforcement, both at home and abroad, alongside introducing a temporary control power and robust treatment programmes that lead people into drug-free recovery. The UK Government are leading the way in cracking down on legal highs by outlawing, not just individual drugs, but whole families of related substances. The Home Office has not made any formal assessment of the experience of Portugal and other European states of the decriminalisation of drugs for personal and non-commercial use.

Fraud: Identity Theft

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost to the United Kingdom of fraud caused by identity theft.

Lord Henley: The financial cost of fraud caused by identity theft is challenging to measure, as it is an enabler of different types of fraud and crime. The National Fraud Authority (NFA) estimated the direct cost of identity fraud, enabled by identity theft, against individuals in the United Kingdom in 2010 to be £1.9 billion per annum. The estimate was published in the Annual Fraud Indicator 2011.
	Taking into consideration the costs of responding to and dealing with identity fraud, the estimated total cost of identity fraud against individuals in the UK is estimated by the NFA to be at least £2.7 billion a year.

Genetically Modified Organisms

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what date (1) genetically modified mosquito eggs were exported for open release in the United States; (2) the United States was notified of that export; and (3) the export notification was sent to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and whether they will place a copy of the export notification documents, including the risk assessment, in the Library of the House.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: We understand that shipments of GM mosquito eggs to the United States have been for contained use purposes only. We therefore do not hold any associated documentation.

Government: Ministerial Responsibilities

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the ministerial responsibilities of the Minister of State for Trade and Investment; and who is responsible for those matters in the House of Commons.

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint: I am responsible for the development and implementation of the Government's trade and inward investment strategy. To this end, I oversee UK Trade and Investment, UK Export Finance (Export Credits Guarantee Department) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Prosperity Directorate. I have a number of able colleagues including my right honourable friend the Secretary of State who deal with these matters in the House of Commons depending on the nature of the particular matter raised.

Gypsies and Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress is being made by local authorities to meet the shortfall in pitches for Gypsies and Travellers since the enactment of the Housing Act 2004; whether they have powers of discretion to require greater expedition of this process; and, if so, in what circumstances they would be used.

Baroness Hanham: A shortfall of appropriate sites continues to be a problem in many areas. The imposition of topdown targets through the regional strategy approach has failed to resolve this issue. The Government believe that local planning authorities are best placed to assess the needs of their communities and we are therefore placing responsibility for gypsy and traveller site provision back with them. Local authorities have a number of powers to address a short-term lack of pitches, including the granting of temporary permissions.
	Communities Minister Andrew Stunell announced on 5 January the successful bids for £47 million of funding which will help provide over 750 new and refurbished pitches for travellers by 2015. The new authorised travellers' sites will provide the basis for the local authorities to tackle the inequalities experienced by travellers and reduce the number of unauthorised sites, which create tensions between travellers and the settled community.

Marine Environment: Conservation Zones

The Duke of Montrose: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many sites submitted to the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee for approval as marine conservation areas were entirely within the six nautical mile boundary of the United Kingdom, and how many of the remainder were within the 12 nautical mile boundary.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the 30 sites that have been approved as marine conservation areas by the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee lie entirely within the six nautical mile boundary of the United Kingdom, and how many of the remainder are within the 12 nautical mile boundary.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Marine Protected Areas Science Advisory Panel has provided advice to the Government on the suitability from a scientific perspective of all the marine conservation zone (MCZ) sites recommended by the stakeholder-led regional projects. Ministers will decide on which sites to designate as MCZs, drawing on the panel's advice as well as that of the statutory nature conservation agencies and following a public consultation.
	There were a total of 173 site recommendations from the regional projects (108 MCZs and 65 reference areas). 116 of these lie entirely within the 12 nautical mile boundary while 57 cross, or are entirely beyond, this boundary.
	The table below shows the number of MCZs sites proposed by each of the four regional project areas that: (a) lie entirely within the six nautical mile limit, and (b) lie entirely within 12 nautical miles, excluding those covered in (a).
	
		
			 Regional MCZ Project (a) number of sites entirely within the  6 nm (b) number of remaining MCZ sites located entirely within 12nm 
			 Balanced Seas 43 3 
			 Finding Sanctuary 33 5 
			 Net Gain 17 0 
			 Irish Seas Conservation Zones 14 1 
			 Total 107 9

NHS: Clinical Commissioning Groups

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likelihood of clinical commissioning groups using private contractors to act on their behalf; and what assistance will be given to them to ensure that any such contractors are able to deliver an efficient and economical service.

Earl Howe: None. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) cannot sub-contract nor delegate their commissioning decisions to other organisations. Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, CCGs will be legally accountable for meeting their statutory functions and responsible for the outcomes of their commissioning decisions.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Shutt of Greetland on 15 December (WA 288) regarding the request from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to permit it to accept Atlantic Philanthropies funding to develop a human rights training programme for the Northern Ireland Civil Service, what form the proposed programme takes; whether they have sought the view of the Northern Ireland executive on the matter; and whether the questions of the level of funding and date it may be made available are the only outstanding matters to be resolved.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) staff training is a matter for the head of the NICS.
	The final content and delivery of the training programme is an operational matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission working with the NICS.

Prisons: Staff/Prisoner Relationships

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their response to the final report from the Prison Research Centre at the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, "An exploration of Staff-Prisoner Relationships at HMP Whitemoor Twelve Years On", which was handed to the Home Office on 23 June.

Lord Henley: The report, An Exploration of Staff-Prisoner Relationships at HMP Whitemoor Twelve Years On, commissioned by the Home Office as an external piece of research, has undergone formal review processes and will be published in due course. The National Offender Management Service will be reviewing the findings of the research and its implications for policy and practice.

Sport: Community Facilities

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the concern of Sport England about the impact of the new National Planning Policy Framework on protection afforded to sports facilities; and what steps they are taking to ensure that playing fields and other sports facilities are preserved for communities.

Baroness Hanham: Ensuring that the planning system gives proper protection to playing fields and other sports facilities is very important to us.
	The draft national planning policy framework seeks to increase planning protection for community facilities. The new guidance proposes to strengthen current policy by asking local councils to consider the availability and viability of community facilities as part of the plan-making process and to develop policies to safeguard against their unnecessary loss.
	The Government are also introducing a new designation to protect valued local green spaces, which has the potential to provide additional planning protection to playing fields and other open green spaces.
	These measures will also be supported by the community right to buy in the Localism Act which will provide additional protection for community assets.
	We are giving careful consideration to the views of Sport England and other consultees who responded to the draft national planning policy framework. We are committed to publishing the final framework by 31 March 2012, but intend to do so well ahead of then.